1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a sensing system for a gate and more specifically to a sensing system that is applied to the vertical leading edge of a gate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many devices on the market that sense an object being in the path of a closing gate or closing garage door that will take corrective action. The requirement for the above stems from the a 1995 Federal mandate that governs the parameters of safety devices installed on residential garage doors which must be fail-safe, therefore, the automatic garage door must reverse itself without producing a force that would injure. Recently, the same requirement has been imposed on automatic gates. Some of the patents on sensing edges are:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,835 to Miller et al. This patent has a sensing edge with a switch assembly positioned thereon.
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,552 to Miller et al. This patent includes a proximity sensing switch that detects a change in capacitance to actuate the device that controls a door.
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,387 to Miller et al describes a sensing edge for a gate. Two layers of conducting material are spaced apart such that a force on the gate edge will cause the conducting material to contact and close a circuit.
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,058 to Richardson describes an electrosensing edge for a garage door. A cable on the bottom edge is moved when the bottom edge strikes an object and thereby actuates switches attached to the ends of the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,417 to Strand describes a photocell beam shining through the door edge and if an object blocks the beam, the photo switch provides a signal to reverse the motion.
What is needed, is an inexpensive device that uses mechanical means to activate a switch whereby the force can be multiple directional.
From the foregoing, the need should be appreciated for an inexpensive and simple gate sensing system. Accordingly, a fuller understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the Summary of the Invention, and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.